Rediscovered photo sparks interest in Manuelito

The discovery of an as yet unpublished photograph of Chief Manuelito has sparked a flurry of interest in the Navajos' most famous war chief - and connected his biographer and great-great-granddaughter with other pictures of ancestors she didn't know existed.

"I'm looking at one now of Manuelito's son," said Jennifer Denetdale, a professor of history at the University of New Mexico. "My God, he's so beautiful. It's making me cry."

That one, along with a photo of Manuelito's wife Juanita, was sent to Denetdale by Bill Becker, director of the virtual Museum of American Photography. Becker learned of Denetdale and her book in a photo-history chat room where people were sharing news of the unpublished photograph.

(He cautioned he isn't certain the photo he e-mailed Denetdale represents one of Manuelito's two sons who were also named Manuelito, although it is described "Manuelito" on the back, the time frame is right, and there's a definite family resemblance.)
Denetdale hasn't seen the new Chief Manuelito photograph, uncovered by archivist Daniel Kosharek in Santa Fe's Palace of the Governors last summer. Kosharek kept mum until he could check every major archive in the country and confirm that it is one of a kind.

The photo appears this month with an article about Manuelito in El Palacio, the magazine of the New Mexico History Museum.

Many people in the Four Corners historical community contacted Denetdale to share the news with her, some of whom were unaware of her biography, "Reclaiming Navajo History: The Legacy of Chief Manuelito and Juanita," until they found mention of it on the Internet.

Denetdale said she is going to try to obtain special permission to view the photo, and would eventually like a copy of it to display in the Manuelito exhibit at the Navajo Nation Museum.

"It's really cool that they found an unpublished photo of him," she said. "I can't wait to see it."

According to James Faris, author of "Navajo and Photography," "any new photograph of Manuelito is big news," although he doesn't think the museum image will add much to Navajo history.

"I published one in my book that was probably taken at almost exactly the same time, because he's wearing the same clothes," Faris said. He dated that photo sometime between the return of the Navajos to their homeland in 1868 and the death of Indian Agent Theodore Dodd in 1870, based on the appearance in the photo of a white man who is probably Dodd.

Faris estimates fewer than a dozen photographs of Manuelito exist, so this new one definitely adds to the repertoire.

According to a press release from El Palacio, the three-and-a-half by four-inch albumen proof print is believed to date to the 1870s, when early Santa Fe photographer Henry T. Hiester took a series of exposures of Native Americans to be viewed in the stereoscopes that were popular at the time.

The envelope that contained the negative was inscribed "Manuelito and Cayetanito." It purportedly shows Manuelito seated in front of an adobe building, wearing a headband, heishi necklace and knee-high moccasins. The man standing next to him, presumably Cayetanito, is draped in a blanket. Cayetanito was Manuelito's brother.

Manuelito, who went by several Navajo names including Haastíín Ch'ilhaajin (Man from Black Reeds), was one of the main war chiefs before, during and after the Long Walk. He fought valiantly against the Americans but later surrendered and went with his people to Bosque Redondo. He was one of the signatories of the Treaty of 1868, which freed the Diné and established the Navajo Reservation.

The New Mexico History Museum is currently inventorying its entire photographic collection, so there may be more surprises to come.

But, according to Faris, the holy grail of Navajo photography has yet to be found.

"We know there were four or five photographers at the signing of the Treaty of 1868," he said, "yet no photographs of the signing have yet surfaced. It's out there somewhere, and whoever finds it will make their fortune, I guarantee you that."

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